The Suffering Of The Person

                         Prisoner steals fire engine, escapes

                                                                       

San Diego - Officials at a California state prison may want to reconsider letting inmates convicted of auto theft go outside the prison's walls and have access to vehicles.

Thomas Francis Kelley, 51, is a convicted car thief. He was sent to state prison in Aug. 2008 and later paroled. But he ended up in the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, after his parole was revoked in Nov. 2010.

The prison has various classifications and Kelley was put into minimum security. This made him eligible to work as a firefighter, outside the prison walls. When a headcount was conducted at 9:30 p.m. on New Year's Day, Kelley was nowhere to be seen.

Lt. Patrick Logan, a spokesman for the facility, was quoted as saying,

It appears he just jumped in the vehicle and left.

Kelley also told the San Diego Union-Tribune that inmates who are allowed to carry out firefighting duties are "rigorously screened."

About the same time as Kelley was discovered missing, the fire truck was seen. Lt. David Gilmore of the San Diego Sheriff's Office is quoted in the Chicago Tribune as saying,

We received a call that there were two males in a yellow fire truck having difficulty maneuvering the vehicle. When our deputies arrived, they recovered the fire truck but the occupants had already run away.

The fire truck was found in a 7-11 store parking lot in nearby Spring Valley.

Kelley was originally scheduled to be paroled in Dec. 2013. But as Logan pointed out,

Obviously that's all changed. I don't think he'd be in the outside perimeter again.

Kelley is described as white, 5' 6" to 5' 7" tall, weighing 170 pounds. He has light brown hair, blue eyes, and is clean shaven. He also wears prescription glasses. When last seen he was wearing faded blue jeans, a blue jean jacket, and construction boots.

The Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility would really like to have him back. Anyone who sees Kelley is asked to call the prison at  619-661-6500.

Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/317185#ixzz27dYODgfe